Wringer



Jan. 27; 1925.

J. M. MURPHY WRINGER Filed Aug. 6, 1924 MW w Patented Jan. 27, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN M. MURPHY, OF SHAMOKIN, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOCHARLES K. 'MORGANROTH, OF SHAMOKIN, ."PENNSYLVANIA.

WBINGER.

Application filed August 6, 1924.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN M' MURPHY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Shamokin, in the county of Northumberland and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inWringers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to safety pressure releases for wringers, and hasfor one of its objects to provide a device of this character which willbe simple in construction, comparatively inexpensive to manufacture andmore eflicient in use than those which have been heretofore proposed.

In the power operated wringers which are now commonly employed inconnection with electric washing machines, it is customary to provide apair of wringer rolls, one of which is adjustable to and from the otherin order to control the pressure exerted between the rolls, whichpressure, in common practice, is quite considerable. Many seriousaccidents have occurred in the use of such wringers due to the operatorinadvertently placing his hand in such position that it is gripped bythe wringer rolls and drawn between them, thereby crushing or tearingthe hand of the operator to a serious extent.

Various devices have been proposed for preventing the hand of theoperator from thus being drawn into the wringer and for releasing thepressure of the rolls in cases of such emergency, and it is to thelatter class of device that the present invention relates.

In all the prior devices of this character of which I am familiar, thepressure of the tempt to withdraw his hand which is caught by placingthe other hand against the front of the wringer and pulling backward onthe hand which is caught. The present invention, on the other hand,provides a mechanism having a trip extending transversely Serial No.730,403.

draw the hand which' is caught from the rolls.

' With the above and other objects in view, which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists in the novel details ofconstruction and combinations and arrangements of parts more fullyhereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the appendedclaims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of thisspecification, in which like reference characters designate like partsin all the views:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a wringer provided with a safetypressure release mechanism constructed in accordance with the presentinvention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken approximately onthe plane indicated by the line 22 of Fig. 1, looking in the directionof the arrows; and,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the trip mechanism shown inFigs. 1 and 2.

Referring more especially to the said drawings the numeral 5 indicates aframe or casing of the wringer in which is suitably journalled a lowerroll 6 and an upper roll 7. The lower roll 6, which is preferablysomewhat larger in diameter than the upper roll 7, is journalled againsthorizontal or vertical movements, while the upper roll 7 is soconstructed and arranged that it may be released to move either upwardlyor transversely of the wringer frame 5. This mounting of the upper rollis preferably accomplished by means of a bridge member 8, which extendsabove and parallel to the axis of the roll 7, and which is provided atits ends with the downwardly extending ears 9, the lower faces of whichare provided with the transversely spaced substantially semi-circularbearin recesses, 10 and 11, as will be clear from Fig. 2.

These recesses are adapted to receive the ends 12 of the spindle or axle13, upon which the roll 7 is mounted. It is to be understood that theroll may be shifted from left to right, and vice versa, as indicated indotted lines in Fig. 2, in order to provide for feed substantiallypreventing the longitudinal displacement of.

the bridge member, while at the time per mitting of its vertical movemenIn order to provide for the controlling ofthe pressure which may beexerted between the rolls 6 and 7, there. is provided a L-shaped lever16, having a leg 17 extending through an opening 18,

formed in the cover plate 19 of the frame 5,

the leg being provided with a substantially right angular extension 20'through which passes a pivot bolt or shaft 21, the ends-of which projectthrough the side members 22 of the frame 5. The L-shaped lever 16 isalso provided with the leg 23, which projects in a-substantiallyhorizontal direction above the cover plate 19, whereby the lever may bemanually operated to control the pressure of the roll 7 upon the roll 6,as will presently appear.-

The leg17 of the. lever 16 is. preferably provided with a rounded end25. which normally rests upon and engages a leaf spring 26, one end ofwhich is rigidly secured to the upper surface of the bridge member 8,

as at 27,-while the other end of the spring projects through a staple orother guiding member 28, also carried by the bridge member 8. This endofthe spring is slidably mounted relative to the guiding member 28 so thatit is free to move therethrough, as will be readily understood.

In order to retain the lever 16 and the 'bridge member 8 in any desiredadjusted position to secure a desired pressure between the rolls, theleg 17 of. the lever 16 is provided with a plurality of notches orserrations 3O, which are adapted to becngaged by the pointed toe 31 of adog 32, whichis pivotally mountedupon a transversely extending rod orshaft 33 in'co-operative re-' lation with the lever 16. The dog 32 isrigidly attached to the pivot member 33 and this member is. preferablyslidably mounted from the serrations 30.

in theside members 22 of the frame 5 so that the rod, together with thedog 32, may be transversely movedrelative to the wringer frame and lever16 to disengage its toe 31 Suitable coiled springs 34 surround the rod33 upon each side of .the dog 32 and bear against the side members 22whereby the dog will normally be maintained in a substantially centralposition Within the wringer frame with its toe 31 in alignment with theleg 17 of the lever 16.

It will be noted that the dog 32 is pivoted closer to one end than tothe other, whereby it will be. subject to the action of gravity whichwill tend to turn the same about the axis of the pivot 33 in a clockwisedirection, as viewed in Fig. 1. A suitable stop pin 35 is mounted in theside members 22 upon which the free end of the dog may rest to preventit from assuming the position where its toe 31 will not engage with theserrations 30 of the lever 16.

The pivot rod or shaft 33 which carries the dog, as above stated, isslidably mounted in the side members 22 and projects some distancebeyond the said members, each end of the said dog being provided with aknob or fingerpiece 36, as is clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

The operation of the device will be clear from the foregoing but it maybe briefly summarized as follows: The wrin er being placed in the properposition with t 1e upper roll 17 occupying either the right or left handrecesses in the ears 9, the pressure that the roll may exert upon thelower roll 6 is adjusted to the desired point by merely pressing downupon the leg 23 of the lever 16. This will rock the lever about itspivot 21 to cause the rounded end 25 of the leg 17 to press upon theleaf spring 26, which pressure will in turn be transmitted from the saidspring to the bridge member 8 and through its ears 9 to the ends 12 ofthe roll shaft 13. The parts are now in a )osition for use and theclothes may be fed etween the rolls in the usual and well known manner.

Should the operator accidentally catch his hand or a portion of hisclothin between the rolls so that the latter begin to draw the caughtmember between them, as above-stated, his most natural inclination wouldbe to place his free hand against the forward member 22 of the wringerframe and to endeavor to pull the other hand out of the rolls. In sodoing however, with the present invention, the free hand will auto--matically strike the knob 36 on the end of the pivot rod 33 which, beingslidably mounted in the side members 22, may be pushed inwardly againstthe compression of one of the springs 34 and carry with it during itstransverse movement, the dog 32. As soon as the dog 32 clears the sideof the leg 1? of the lever 16, the latter will, of course. be releasedand will move in a counterclockwise direction about its pivot 21,thereby releasing the pressure upon the sprin 26 and the bridge member8, so that the roll 7 will be released and the caught hand or clothingbe. readily withdrawn before serious injury or damage has beensustained. Of course, as soon as the knob 36 is released. the spring 34which has been compressed will return the pivot rod 33 and the dog 32 toits medial position, in alignment with the leg 17 of the lever 16, sothat by again compressing the leg 23 of the lever, the parts may berc-engaged and the desired pressure secured between the rolls.

lVhile one form of the invention has been illustrated and described itis obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details ofconstruction as well as the arrangement of parts without departing fromthe spirit of the invention, and therefore itis not wished to be limitedto the above disclosure except as may be required by the accompanyingclaims.

What is claimed is:

1. A safety pressure release for roll wringers comprising means foradjusting one of the wringer rolls to control the pressure; means forlocking said adjusting means in a desired position, said locking meansbeing laterally reciprocable in either direction to disengage saidadjusting means; and means for yieldingly holding said looking means inengagement with said adjusting means.

2. A safety pressure release for roll wringers comprising means foryieldingly forcing one of the rolls toward the companion roll; meansco-acting with said forcing means to retain it in a desired position,said retaining means being laterally movable in either direction todisengage said forcing means to release the same; and resilient meansfor normally maintaining said retaining means in engagement with saidforcing means.

3. A safety pressure release for roll wringers comprising a lever forforcing one of the rolls toward its companion roll; and a locking dognormally engaging said lever to retain it in a set position, said dogbeing laterally movable to disengage said lover.

a. A safety pressure release for roll wringers comprising a pivotedlever for forcing one of the rolls toward its companion roll, said leverhaving a serrated portion; and a locking dog normally engaging theserrations of said lever to retain it in a set position, said dog beinglaterally movable to disengage said lever serrations.

5. A safety pressure release for roll wringers comprising a pivotedlever for forcing one of the rolls toward its companion roll, said leverhaving a serrated portion; a pivoted locking dog normally engaging theserrations of said lever to re tain it in a set position, said dog beinglaterally movable to disengage said lever serrations; and a stop forlimiting the pivotal movement of said dog in one direction.

6. A safety pressure release for roll wringers comprising a pivotedlever for forcing one of the rolls toward its companion roll; a lockingdog adapted to engage said lever to retain it in a set position, saiddog being laterally movable out of alignment with said lever to releasethe same; and means for normally holding said dog in alignment with saidlever.

7. A safety pressure release for roll wringers comprising a pivotedlever for forcing one of the rolls toward its companion roll, said leverhaving a serrated portion; a locking dog adapted to engage theserrations of said lever to retain it in a set position, said dog beinglaterally movable out of alignment with said lever to release the same;and yielding means for normally holding said dog in alignment with saidlever.

8. A safety pressure release for roll wringers comprising a pivotedlever for forcing one of the rolls toward its oompanion roll, said leverhaving a serrated portion; a pivoted locking dog adapted to engage theserrations of said lever to retain it in a set position, said dog beinglaterally movable out of alignment with said lever to release the same;yielding resilientmeans for normally holding said dog in alignment withsaid lever; and a stop for limiting the pivotal movement of said dog inone direction.

9. The combination with a wringer comprising a frame, a pair of rollsmounted therein, one of which is movable toward and from the other tovary the pressure between them, and a bridge member for moving saidmovable roll toward its companion roll, of a lever pivotally mounted insaid frame, provided with a portion adapted to urge said bridge memberand movable roll toward said companion roll; and a dog mounted in saidframe normally engaging said lever to maintain it in set position, saiddog being also laterally movable in said frame to disengage said lever.

10. The combination with a wringer comprising a frame, a pair of rollsmounted therein, one of which is movable toward and from the other tovary the pressure between them, and a bridge member for moving saidmovable roll toward its companion roll, of a lever pivotally mounted insaid frame, provided with a portion adapted to urge said bridge memberand movable roll toward said companion roll, said lever also having aserrated portion; a dog pivotally mounted in said frame normallyengaging the serrations of said lever to maintain it in set position,said dog being also laterally movable in said frame to disengage saidlever; and spring means for normally maintaining said dog in alignmentwith said lever.

11. The combination with a wringer comprising a frame, a pair of rollsmounted therein, one of which is movable toward and from the other tovary the pressure between them, and a bridge member for moving saidmovable'roll toward its companion roll, of a substantially L-shapedlever pivotally mounted in said frame, provided With a portion adaptedto urge said bridge member and movable roll toward said companion roll,said lever also having a serrated portion; a dog pivotally mount- 10 edin said frame normally engaging the serrations of said lever to maintainit in set position, said dog being also laterally movable in said frameto disengage said lever; spring means for normally maintaining said dogin alignment with said lever; and a stop pin for limiting pivotalmovement of said dog in one direction.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature.

JOHN M. MURPHY.

